Rings
by stainedangel
Summary: Peaceful times, Squall and Rinoa now move onto to another chapter in their lives, one that is hard on both of them. But what will it be? A one chapter peice of work, yet another Squinoa after battle story, worth a read though. =)


/ * / Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Squaresoft does unfortunately. The only reason why I gave this a PG warning is for one word in there, so... yeah.. hope you like it even though I think it's not that great. I just had a dream like this and was inspired to type it out. Review if you want, flames included. \ * \  
  
The metal shimmered with the sunlight, the flickering light flashing against her peaceful brown eyes. A tough looking lion engraved into the silver ring swayed along with her movements, the small clanking noise of griever hitting against her ring actually reminded her of her happiness. She had finally had time and the oppertunity, so instead of the usual plain ring, there was a set of angel wings set deep into the ring, resembling those on her back. A symbol of each of them, close to her always.  
  
Rinoa happily walked down the sidewalk, taking in a breath of fresh air as she peered into the beauty that was Balamb Garden. These were peaceful times, everything worked out fine in the end; she had her knight, and she was his angel. The sky was breathtaking; filled with oranges, pinks, purples and blues, all intertwined and blended, the bright red-orange sun setting in the distance. She stopped in her tracks as her light blue duster came to a hault behind her to take in the scene. She really was a wonder. Had it been anyone else, they most likely would have walked by without another thought. Rinoa, on the other hand loved the simple things, the things that seemed as if they'd always be there... but might not. Ever since her beloved Squall was in trouble, could have been lost to her forever, she didn't take anything for granted. Her thoughts often placed her back in the dark field, where he was supposed to be there... he promised. The feeling she had was almost unbearable, she thought one of her worst fears had come true; that she had lost him before she ever really had him. Blinking a few times, her slender form shifted to continue her path to their room. She loved him, more than anything, and she'd gladly give up anything for him. Turning around again, her eyes caught the blinding line of light that fought with the horizon, her lips curling up into a peaceful smile.  
  
Peering from within the room, his multi-colored eyes stared endlessly through the wooden framed glass at his raven-haired angel. Bluish-gray sections mixed with green were infatuated with her, the colors of his eyes accentuated with his dark blue SeeD uniform. There he stood, Commander Leonhart. His features had only changed slightly, the length of his hair just passing the collar of his jacket. But inside, he was changed drastically. Sure, on the outside he was cold and distant, still never really spoke more than 5 words at a time to the same person. The emptiness though.. the sadness, the fear, the pain.. they were all gone. Somehow, someway, they had been eased and taken away. He could actually stand there and smile, laugh on occasion. He fought off a smile coming on, but lost as he remembered a few weeks ago the incident with Zell. He was still pursuing the alleged girl with pig-tails, claiming she gave him her number. When he was running towards him waving a peice of paper around and shouting, he ran right into a glass sliding door, sending Squall into a series of muffled chuckles. He really didn't recall when he was last able to laugh at something like that. Normally he would have just snickered at Zell's stupidity, but he found it humorous. Something had changed in him, and it was for the better. Without another thought, he had his answer. It was her; his Rinoa; his fallen angel who had given up her wings.. for him. It was a puzzle to him why she'd want him of all people.. why she tolerated his icy personality and how she was able to look past it and dig deep into him so simply. For years he had put up with people's bullshit, put up with the lies and backstabbing, mastered the art of keeping people out, but she was able to peirce his cold exterior and worm her way into his heart so easily. As he looked down to her, Squall sighed heavily. Desite all they had been through, this had to be done. It was the only way. He just wasn't sure if either of them could handle it. Already, he felt a sinking in his stomach at the words that were about to be uttered..he could already see the tears in her eyes. A few moments later, he heard the sound of keys jigging on the outside of the door, making him freeze in place.  
  
Her small fingers worked the doorknob, turning it as she pushed the door open. Instantly the room echoed with her voice as she hummed along to some unkown song. Her voice was heavanly, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to go through with what he had planned. Rinoa squinted her eyes in the direction of her lover, noticing that he was standing still in almost complete darkness, the only light coming from the early night sky pouring in from the window.  
  
"Squall?" She spoke up timidly, sensing something was wrong. She closed the door behind her, running her fingers along the wall to find the light switch. Before she could flip the lights on, she felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist stopping her. She jumped suddenly, blinking towards Squall. "You scared me! What's wrong, why do you want the lights off?" Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, his face and body were slowly coming into focus as she peered up to him. "..Squall? What is it?" Her heart told her something was wrong, and it was making her nervous that he wasn't answering.  
  
Without a word from him, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in to him as close as he could get her. He leaned his head next to hers, his cheek touching the top of her head as he softly sighed. All she could do was stand there and blink, confused at what was going on. Slowly she brought her own arms up to him, wrapping them around him as she buried her face against his chest. Just as she was settled in, she felt his hands slide down to the back of her neck. All she could do was stare off into space in confusion as she felt his fingers undoing the clasp of her necklace. What was he doing? Why? Backing away, he slid a ring off the necklace and held it in the palm of his hand. He reached out and grabbed her hand, opening it as he placed the necklace with the remaining ring into it, then closed her fingers around it. Looking up at him, her eyes were filled with worry and confusion. He wasn't.. doing what she thought he was doing.. was he?  
  
"Rinoa.." His voice sent shivers up and down her spine, the emotionless sound in his voice giving wing to her fears. "I have something to tell you... I've.. felt like this for a while, and I've put up with it as long as I can.. so.. there's really only one thing left for me to do, and.. I'm sorry if you don't want it to be this way." Immediately her eyes teared up. What had she done, did he not love her anymore? Frantically she searched his eyes for answers, only to be able to barely see a glazey look over cold eyes. As she was about to turn and run out the door, some place far off, unkown so she could cry her eyes out and try to figure things out, she heard the light switch flip, the room illuminating with a bright light. Her eyes readjusted once again, this time what she saw was a shock. Selphie, Quisits, Irvine and Zell all stood there behind the couch with sly smiles on their faces, their hands behind their backs. Giving them her surprised and completely lost look, she turned back to Squall, who was not standing in front of her anymore.  
  
Instead, he was on the ground... he was now kneeling in front of her. "Rinoa Heartilly, in front of our friends, I ask you.. will you honor me by being my angel forever.." His voice trailed off as his cheeks reddened some. Reaching out he held onto her left hand and pulled it close to him, slipping on the ring with angel wings on it.. only this one was different. It was the same as hers, only in the outline of the wings were tiny diamonds, shimmering brightly with the light. "You can still keep your old one, but I think this one is better." Even though he didn't really want anyone around, he knew it would mean so much to her, and so he did it.. even asked her romantically.. just for her, only for her. Tears that had once been formed from sadness spilled out of her eyes filled with happiness. She gasped, then covered her face as she began to laugh happily. "Yes, of course!" Standing up, Squall took the love of his life into his arms, almost crushing her against him. She didn't mind though, she wanted to be as close to him as possible... now she'd have that chance. Meanwhile, their friends brought from behind them party poppers, covering the happy couple with multiple colored confetti. That night, laughter and smiles filled the room shared between lion and angel and their faithful friends, only a taste of what would come...  
  
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Heh.. I liked the twist in the end. Could you see it coming? Hope not, otherwise the purpose of this was pointless.... yeah, anyway. I know I should have expanded on it more.. maybe some day I will. =P Again, review and what not and keep an eye out for other stories to come. ~*~Ashley~*~ 


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